25th January will mark the 11th National Voters' Day. On this day in 1950, The Election Commission of India came into existence. This year, ECI will be organizing a special program on it's Founders Day which will be graced by the President of India Mr. Ramnath Kovind. He will be attending the program virtually.
The Day came into being when Law Ministry's proposal to have a National Voters' Day was accepted by the Union Cabinet under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The main purpose behind the day was to engage the younger generation which has crossed 18 but is reluctant to be a part of the nation building process. The engagement of youth was considerably low in beginning of the last decade than what it is now.
In order to inform the youth that it is their turn to be an active part of the electoral process and to get the eligible voters out of their homes so that they can exercise what is their basic right, the day was started.
The theme for this year's National Voters' Day is "Making our voters empowered, vigilant, safe and informed." This year ECI would have a bigger challenge ahead of them as due to Covid 19, people would be reluctant to come out and vote.
Moreover, organizing elections in the biggest democracy of the world while keep all health regulations in mind as first priority would definitely be public safety, is a daunting task for ECI. However, with vaccination process gaining pace and youth becoming more vigilant and active, ECI's task looks tough but possible.
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